gods

God wants us to hear, learn, and fear the LORD (Deut. 31:12-13). This order is repeated twice. We are to hear and learn the Word of God, then we are to fear Him. I believe this is because the more we learn of God, the more we cannot help but fear him. Unfortunately, our modern churches don’t actually teach the Word of God, and Christians do not fear the LORD.

Why should we fear God? Just look at the threats made to Israel (and the threats have become real since) in Deut. 31:17. God’s anger is kindled, he forsook them, hid his face from them, and devoured them. This sounds like a God you should fear.

God is described as the Rock (Deut. 32:4), which is not the same as Simon Peter (the rock) on whom the Catholic Church has been built (according to them). Our Rock is Jesus Christ, not Peter. The Christian church is built on Christ. Psalm 62:6-7 says “He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”

Again, this is not talking about Peter, but God and Christ.

Deut. 32:8 once again shows the “negativity” of The Bible. It says that the most High (God) “divided,” “separated,” and set “bounds.” These are not inclusive, uniting words. They are divisive. Christians “are not of the world” (John 17:16), and should be divided, separated, and have bounds that we should not cross.

Modern Christians cross those bounds as often as we can, don’t we?

God also warns us of sacrificing “unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not” (Deut. 32:17).

I think this idea of new gods is pertinent to the entire world. When we think of gods, we think of the ancient Roman and Greeks; of Zeus, Jupiter, Apollo, Thor, Odin, Shiva, Buddha, etc. We scoff at the very idea that we would ever worship a god.

However, we worship NEW gods. We pray at the altar of celebrity, sports, and television. We build shrines to Tom Cruise or Jennifer Lawrence. We pray to “the football gods” when our team takes the field. We attend the church that Babe Ruth built.

The statistics on church attendance during football season are staggering. About 40% of men and 18% of women watch more than six hours of football a week, while less than 20% attend church for even one hour, and 22% of churchgoers would skip church for football.

We worship new gods alright.

What America has become is “a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them” (Deut. 32:28). We are walking the same path that the Israelites were on over 3,000 years ago. The very path that led to their scattering, suffering, and destruction is the one that we are gleefully running down.

Why? Because we have forgotten to fear the LORD.

Deut. 32:31 says “their rock is not as our Rock.” Peter, the Pope, Mohammad, Buddha, Odin, Zeus; these are the rocks that other religions are built on. Jesus Christ, the LORD is the Rock that should be our foundation. The Jewish religions missed that mark as well, as they deny that Christ is Messiah. Their only refuge is that they are God’s chosen people whom He promised to restore. Christians, that promise is not given to America. When God destroys our nation, there will be no coming back.

These are the warnings the God gave us through Moses; the only prophet “whom the LORD knew face to face” (Deut. 34:10). No matter the claims from the Vatican or Mecca, none are as great a prophet as Moses who died before entering the Promised Land.

The Israelites are a “peculiar people” (Deut. 14:2), which is why it is silly for Christians and Americans today to think that all the laws of the Old Testament apply to us. It is why anti-Christians always want to point to the Pentateuch in order to lecture us on our hypocrisy. They are fools to believe that because modern American Christians do not follow laws meant for ancient Israelites, we are hypocrites.

Some of what is found in these books, however, does apply to us. The notion that one witness is not enough to put a man on death row (Deut. 17:6) is the same policy that our own justice system has today. Anyone who has studied memory and cognition knows that eye witness testimony is easily dismissed. The only time that a court takes it seriously is when there are two or more witnesses. God knew the fallibility of an eye witness a couple thousand years before our courts recognized it.

Chapter 17:14-20 gives a great picture of a great leader as well. A king (in our case, Congressman or President) should not use his office to multiply his wealth or sexual proclivities. A good leader reads the law every day and fears the LORD. He keeps this law (the Bible) in his heart and applies them to his life.

The problem with our leaders today is the same as those back in the Old Testament, they all abandon the teachings of God and use their power for personal gain. They are selfish; therefore, they are not good leaders. Not even Solomon and David met the standards put forth by this passage. In fact, Solomon became the poster child for doing the exact opposite of this, as he amassed the greatest fortune ever known and had 1000 wives and concubines. Yet, even Solomon came to realize that “all is vanity” (Eccl. 1:1).

Chapter 18 lists nine abominations: child sacrifice (to Molech aka Nimrod), divination, “observer of times” (astrology), enchanter, witch, charmer, consulters with familiar spirits (familiar spirits may appear as animal guides, historical figures, or family members — but they are none of these things), wizard, and necromancy. These are “spiritual gifts” in a manner of speaking, though they are not the same gifts as those given by God in the New Testament. These are dark gifts brought about by worshiping false gods, and consulting with demons and evil spirits. This is an explicit warning against messing around with psychics, Ouija boards, witchcraft, and opening yourself to the supernatural.

Deut. 18:15-18 predicts Jesus Christ, who is a Prophet who is like God (v. 15) AND like man (v. 18) who will speak the words of God and save people from the fire (v. 16). Those who pretend to be a prophet of God, but do not speak his words are doomed to die.

This is a warning against Mohammad, Antichrist, and all of the “Christian” ministers who wear the right label, but fail to preach the right words. We must be vigilant in our understanding of the Word of God, so that we may rightly divide the word of Truth (II Tim 3:15). We do not want to follow these wolves in sheep’s clothing into destruction.

Deuteronomy is the last of the five books of the Jewish Pentateuch, also known as the Law of Moses. The first two chapters are a quick rundown of some of the events that occurred in the book of Numbers. It takes place near the end of the 40 year wandering in the wilderness, and the time of entry into the Promised Land draws near.

Moses reviews the report of the 12 spies who brought back fruit from the Promised Land in Numbers 13.

He remembered the fear of the giant Anakims that led to a murmuring from the Israelites in Numbers 14 that brought out the curse of wandering that they were nearing the end of. Many of that generation were dead, but none would enter the Promised Land.

Deut. 1:39 says “your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither. . .” This verse is often used in the argument that a child who dies before the “age of accountability” that is, when they can understand good, evil, and salvation, will be taken to Heaven.

Further evidence comes from Romans 5:13, “For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law” and Romans 4:8 “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

In other words, if a person doesn’t know or understand the law, then he is blessed. This includes children and those who have not heard the laws of God. This is a controversial stance, but I believe that a person in the most remote locations that has never heard of Jesus Christ can still go to heaven. They cannot reject a gift if they never knew it was offered.

Chapter 2 begins with the time when the Edomites refused to let the children of Israel pass through their lands (Num. 20), then Moses discusses the various names for the races of giants.

We have the Anakims, Emims, Zamzummims, Avims, and Caphtorims.

Goliath was not one of these. He was a Hamitic Philistine (Gen. 10:6, 13-14) from Gath, one of the last refuges for the Anakims according to Joshua 11:22.

The idea that there were whole races of ten foot giants is incredible. We know from Genesis 6 that giants were created when the fallen angels mated with human females. Many people refer to this race as Nephilim. We can safely assume that most, if not all, were destroyed in the flood. However, Nimrod, the mighty hunter and father of the Babylonian mystery cults who was worshiped as a god on almost every continent may have had some supernatural fallen angel DNA in his blood.

There must be some explanation for why Nimrod was so revered that extends well beyond his leadership as a king. Perhaps Ham’s wife was part Nephilim, or maybe Cush or Nimrod were not biologically full Hamite. This is a mystery that I have yet to solve.

What we do know, is that giants roamed the earth before the flood, and giants were still around when the Israelites moved toward the Promised Land.

The children of Israel went to war against the Midianites and achieved near total destruction. The battle was so one sided that not one Israelite soldier was killed (Num. 31:49). Though they were commanded to slaughter everyone, the Israelites kept the women and children alive, and were punished with a plague (Num. 31:16).

What would certainly be a controversial order was then given by God. He wanted all the adult women and male children to be executed as well. The reason for this is given in Lev. 18:21-30. The Midianites, like their Moabite friends, were worshipers of Molech (Nimrod). They were people who threw babies into a fire as a tribute their wicked false god. No mercy was to be taken on such an evil people.

The tribes of Reuben and Gad decided that they did not want to go into the Promised Land with the rest of their brethren. They asked for land on the other side of the Jordan river. With some prodding from Moses, they agreed to fight with the rest of the Israelites and conquer the inhabitants of the Promised Land, so long as they could return to the land east of the Jordan. The LORD agreed to this arrangement.

Winston Churchill and T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) took this land of Gilead, also known as Transjordan, and gave it to the Muslims under the very controversial “Sykes-Picot Agreement” who occupy the region today.

Most of us are familiar with the famous “West Bank” territory that is currently occupied by Israel, but the United Nations believes the land should belong to the illegitimate Palestinians. God does not care what the U.N. wants, this territory was meant for the Israelites.

The Sykes Picot Agreement of 1916 that officially gave the region to the wrong people is a controversial arrangement that many people are unaware of. This agreement broke up the Ottoman Empire and created false borders of the Middle-Eastern countries we know today, under the ruse that the British and French would later agree to the instillation of a new caliphate called Greater Syria. We know that this did not happen.

What has happened, however, is that about 100 years later, a group called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) began to wage war in the area that should have become Greater Syria. One of their stated goals is to eradicate Sykes-Picot and form the Islamic caliphate that they were promised.

The reason why some say ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and some say ISIL, is because the “Levant” includes Israel. Those who oppose a caliphate usurping Israel say “ISIS.” Using “ISIL” legitimates the claims made by a terrorist group.

ISIS, the United Nations, the entire Middle-East, and the United States (at least over the past 25 years or so) are all attempting to shrink the Promised Land. There is a strong legal defense that Israel should be allowed to expand settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. There is also a decree from the LORD of all that the borders of Israel as it stands right now are too narrow.

Therefore, all negotiations to strip land away from Israel leads to disasters here in America (see my Notes on Numbers 23-25 for a list of natural disasters). The U.S. and U.N. constantly undermine the will of God Almighty. The West Bank, and additional territory currently known as the “Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan,” should belong to Israel.

As they march toward Canaan, the Israelites begin defeating army after army. Since they can’t go through Edom (Num. 20:18), they go around (Num. 21:4). Once again, they murmur against God. This is the tenth time that they whined about their situation, this time focusing on the quality of the free food they have been receiving.

We do this. We are blessed with so many things that we don’t have to work for, but those blessings are not quite what we want, therefore, we complain; at least I know that I do.

As a punishment, God sends “fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died” (Num. 21:6). What follows is a perfect picture of Christian salvation written 1500 years before Christ died on the cross.

These serpents are killing people. Those who want to avoid death admit their sin (v. 7) and ask that the LORD take their sins away. “Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (v. 9).

The fiery serpents represent sin. The brass serpent represents Christ. He took the shape of the serpent, because he had to become sin in order to save us from our sins (2 Cor. 5:21). The brass serpent was placed on a pole, just as Christ was hung upon the cross. The Israelites had to look on the brass serpent to be saved, just as we gentiles need only to look upon Christ and accept his sacrifice to be saved.

Have you rested your eyes on Jesus Christ?

The Israelites who survived this encounter moved forward on their journey, continuing to conquer. They were so devastating that nation of Moab “was sore afraid of the people, because they were many” (Num. 22:3). Their king, Balak, asked his priest, Balaam, to speak to God on their behalf and get instruction.

God told Balaam three things in Numbers 22:12, 1) “thou shalt not go with them,” meaning that Balaam was not to go with the army; 2) “thou shalt not curse the people,” leave the Israelites alone; and 3) “they are blessed,” which is exactly why they should be left alone.

Balaam only relayed only one of these messages to his king; that he should not go with the army.

This is a picture of modern leaders in the Church. God gave us his Words in English in the King James Bible that we have used for 400 years. His entire message is in there. The Church has abandoned this perfect book for versions that are missing words. They contain part of the message, but not the whole thing.

Our Christian “scholars” (I use that term very loosely) and pastors are at the forefront of this abomination. “Scholars” believe that they are smart enough to correct God’s Word, and our pastors believe we are too stupid to understand it.

This concept is reiterated after Balaam’s donkey begins to literally speak to him once the “angel of the LORD” (who is Christ) confronts them on the road. “The angel of the LORD said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the WORD THAT I SHALL SPEAK UNTO THEE [my emphasis], that thou shalt speak” (Num. 22:35).

Our pastors who do not speak the entire perfect Word of God to their congregations are not obeying God’s command and are doing us a disservice.

This chapter ends by giving us a picture of the “Satanic Trinity” (Num. 22:41). The imitation of God the Father here is Baal (who is Nimrod and represents Satan), the fake Messiah is king Balak (Antichrist), and Balaam is an imitation of the Holy Spirit (the False Prophet).

Notice again that the false prophet, Balaam, is the one who perverts the Word of God. Thus, those “Christian” leaders who today use corrupt versions of God’s Word are false prophets. “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matt. 7:15).

Once again, the children of Israel are complaining about their situation (Numbers 14). Their lack of patience is exactly what we deal with on a day to day basis. God promised them something, and it did not happen on THEIR time, so THEY are unhappy. This is what we all do. We want something NOW and we give no consideration to God’s divine timing.

These guys even discussed going back to Egypt where they were slaves (v. 4). Could you imagine a group of people giving up their sovereignty and freedom to RETURN to slavery? I can, because it happens to all of us every single day. It seems to me that at least half of our country would be happy to sacrifice freedom for forced servitude.

These ungrateful children of Israel would rather die in bondage than live free, because freedom is incredibly difficult. That is why we take it for granted.

God wants to kill all the Israelites and start fresh with Moses and Aaron’s offspring (v. 11-12). Moses, once again interceding for his people, is able to talk God into being merciful. Instead of outright killing all the children of Israel, God killed those who murmured against him (v. 32), and cursed the remaining Israelites to wander in the wilderness for FORTY YEARS (v. 33)!

One of the worst teachings in a modern church is that “God is love” without putting that into context. God gets angry. God gets so angry that he’s willing to commit genocide against the people that he chose to be blessed among all the nations.

This is the God that atheists and anti-Christians mock relentlessly. When stand-up comedians make jokes on stage or when your co-workers call you a fool for your beliefs, they are “murmuring” against the God that killed his own people and forced their children to wander a desert for half a lifetime.

A man violated the Sabbath by picking up some sticks (Num. 15:32), so God commanded that the Israelites stone him to death (v. 35-36). He was killed for we would consider a simple violation of the law given by the God whom our media mocks every day.

When we, as a nation, turn our backs on God, he will leave us (Num. 14:43). This is a side of the God of love that our churches want to pretend doesn’t exist.

Jesus Christ, like Moses in these passages, stands before God the Father and pleads for our lives. Rather than accept his mercy, we continue to murmur. Those of us to turn down the free gift of salvation will die and wander in Hell for all eternity. Those who accept Christ as Savior will have the God who defeated the gods, the giants, and Satan himself on our side.

One of the things that always astounds me is the frequency with which the children of Israel take God for granted. They walked across the dry land when the Red Sea parted for them. They literally see the presence of God as a massive cloud and pillar of fire that surrounds their tabernacle every day. They experienced their friends and family be killed by God after worshiping a false idol. Yet they find time to complain once again about their living arrangements in Numbers 11:1

This upset God so much that he sent a burning fire into their camp and burned those on the fringes. They cried and began begging for fish (v. 5). They had livestock with them, but they complained that they didn’t have the one meat that they lacked access to.

God was providing plenty of food in the form of manna. This meal fell from Heaven requiring no cultivation at all. The Israelites only had to pick it up. There was nothing to feed, nothing to kill, nothing to sow or reap, yet they were not satisfied.

Is this not what we do? The human condition is consumption. We are never satisfied, no matter how much wealth and success we have. We constantly tell ourselves that if we just get the newest tv, or the latest fashion, then we will be happy. All we have to do is get the hot new car and our lives will be complete. However, once we obtain these things, we want the next model.

Our needs can be completely met, but in our sick, twisted minds, we are suffering some sort of loss.

Moses started going a little insane with having to deal with all the crying. He asked God “have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?” (v. 11). He could not handle the burden, so he asked for help.

God decided that he would provide so much meat that the Israelites would get sick of eating it . He said they would eat “until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you:” (v. 20).

He sent dozens of quails to the children of Israel. The ones who lusted for meat and complained were given a plague from the quails and died.

Be careful what you wish for, Christian. When you go to God with a heart of lust and ask for something you desire, you may receive so much that you may lose your life.

The children of Israel finally arrived near Canaan in chapter 13. Spies were sent out into the land to investigate the situation. What they found was a fertile land filled with grapes, milk, and honey; and giants.

Remember the Law of First Mention. Giants in Genesis 6 were the half-human offspring of fallen angels, therefore, these giants were more than likely of the same ilk. These beings were, in my opinion, some of the descendants of Nimrod who were worshiped as gods in many ancient cultures.